


Doing Your Best (And Still Failing)

by Angsty_Kiefer



Series: And In Those Moments [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: (if you squint), Gen, I have a WoL duo and both are in this, I love Krile and think she deserves some nice content, Male Warrior of Light, Minor Injuries, Named Warrior of light, Stormblood Spoilers, background lyse/y'shtola, but its mainly about one of them, miqo'te warrior of light - Freeform, set after the first instanced fight with zenos in SB
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25110067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angsty_Kiefer/pseuds/Angsty_Kiefer
Summary: Acer'a isn't quite sure how to feel after his first Real loss as the Warrior of Light.
Relationships: Krile Mayer Baldesion & Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV)
Series: And In Those Moments [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818640
Kudos: 8





	Doing Your Best (And Still Failing)

**Author's Note:**

> God I really do just hop from video game to video game to write fics for don't I? 
> 
> Anywho, a couple of things to note:  
> 1\. I have a Warrior of Light duo, Acer'a Rowaylah (Miqo'te Dancer and Bard) and Rurik Kuseux (Eleze Summoner and Red Mage.) Both are mentioned here, but this is mostly about Acer'a. (They're also in a relationship for future reference.)  
> 2\. This is the first one shot in a series of snippet stories I'm writing from moments of Acer'a and Rurik's journeys. This just happens to be the first one I finished.   
> 3\. This song helped me set the mood while I wrote this so I'm linking it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3TokLzzmw
> 
> With that said, enjoy the story :)

Laying on his back on the hot sands of Rhalgr's Reach, fire and destruction surrounding him, Acer'a realized that this may as well be one of his biggest failures as the Warrior of Light. 

And it leaves him speechless. 

He can't bring himself to move for a moment, the shock of Zenos's blade sending him to the ground left him dazed, stars vaguely swimming in his vision. He gives himself a minute or so, until everything feels a bit more steady, and then pushes himself to sit up. Bringing a hand up to his face, he feels something sticky on his fingers where they meet his cheek. Pulling them away reveals a bit of blood. 

Perfect. He's been marked then. 

The General comes up to his side, watching Zenos and his Skulls walk out of the Reach as though they hadn't just destroyed everything that they touched. He looks over to Acer'a for a moment, watching him.

"Are you alright there?" He asks, noting the blood on Acer'a's hand. 

He can't even bring himself to answer. His shame shows on his face, he's certain of that much. 

Raubahn, to his credit, doesn't treat him any differently. "You did the best that you could. Takes a certain kind of enemy to best the Warrior of Light after all." 

Acer'a can't help but flinch at the statement. He Knows this. He knows that everyone just watched him, for the first time, get his ass thoroughly handed to him. 

The first time an enemy walked away from a fight with the Warrior of Light, with the Warrior being the one to leave it injured. 

Is he even qualified to be called the Warrior now, after this? 

He's broken out of that line of questioning by Raubahn setting a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look in his direction. 

"You did your best," He says again. "But for now, all we can do is tend to the wounded. Your friends could use your help after all." He motions to where Krile and Alphinaud are busy trying to sew together the wounds of Y'shtola and Conrad. Lyse idles close by, watching Krile work, fretting over Y'shtola. 

He just nods. He can still help at least. 

Raubaun gives his shoulder a pat before he stands up, walking quickly off in the opposite direction, no doubt seeing where he was needed now that the carnage had ended. 

And so Acer'a does the same, walking over towards the Scions where they worked. 

He inwardly cowered a bit upon seeing just how bad Y'shtola's wounds were. By Lyse's account, it seems the mage's quick thinking had saved her life, but it had come with a cost. 

Rurik sat quietly beside Krile, directing his energies towards helping to heal Y'shtola as well. He'd tried to stay in the fight when Zenos had first showed himself, but when the commander had blown everyone back save for Acer'a, he had been swept up with them. If the way he was sitting was indicative of anything, it seemed like he'd landed on his knee wrong when that happened. 

No wonder he didn't try to rejoin the fray then. 

Acer'a couldn't blame his companion. Sometimes his skills were better suited off the field anyways. In this case, an extra set of healing hands was as welcome an addition as a fighter was. He was doing his part to the best of his ability. 

Krile notices him staring from a distance after a moment, and shoots him a stern look.

"Well don't just stand there gawking!" she quips, snapping him out of his daze. "Help Lyse hold Y'shtola down, we need to finish our work here, and quickly." 

He does as he's told, sitting back on the balls of his feet as he takes a gentle hold of Y'shtola's shoulder. Krile and Rurik do their best to knit her wounds together, their healing aether visible in front of him as they do so. Lyse watches silently from where she's sat beside him, though it's clear from the crease in her brow that she's got more than just their friend's condition on her mind. 

Krile puts her hands down after what feels like an eternity of waiting, the aether flow stopping once she does. Rurik follows suit a moment after her, quietly bracing himself against the ground to help push himself up. He's leaning heavily on his left leg when he stands, confirming Acer'a's theory about his knee. 

"We've done all we can for her as it stands," Krile says, breaking the silence. "The most we can do for her now is to move her to the infirmary and keep watch over her condition." 

She looks towards both Acer'a and Lyse this time. "We'll need both of your able bodies to help bring the wounded into shelter, Y'shtola and Conrad included. Can you manage?" 

Lyse gives her a quick "Yes," leaning down to pick Y'shtola up as she does. Acer'a can only nod before walking over to Alphinaud's side, helping him to lift Conrad off the ground before making their way towards the infirmary, following in Krile's lead. 

It was going to be a long night. 

\----

It's about two bells later when Acer'a finds himself sitting on one of the spare infirmary cots after bringing in the last of the survivors that he realizes just how  _ sore _ he is. 

And yet, he can't bring himself to lay down, even if he feels like he should. He feels as though if he stops to rest for even a moment, something else will go horribly wrong. 

So he sits instead, watching his friends as they're strewn about the room. 

Alisaie's sitting on a cot closest towards the wall, leaning over with her head in her hands, with Alphinaud mothering her as usual. He says something about her needing to rest, and she waves him off, insisting that she's fine, despite yawning midway through her statement. 

At least they seem to be doing alright for the time being, nothing out of the ordinary there. 

Y'shtola lies in the cot next to them, still unconscious. She hadn't moved at all yet, or given any signs that she'd wake. But Krile had said that she was stable for now, and they'd just have to play it by ear and keep watch over her. 

Lyse is doing just that, having pulled a chair up over to the side of her cot to watch over the mage as she slept. Out of everyone, she seemed to be taking Y'shtola's injuries the worst. 

Conrad was asleep in the cot next to her, thankfully not as worse for wear. Alphinaud had done his best to mend the commander's wounds. Now it was up to the healing power of sleep to do the rest of the work. 

Rurik, ever the stubborn one, was sitting in a chair not far from the twins, watching them as they bickered. Krile had forced him to take a seat after she convinced him to let her take a look at his knee. It wasn't broken, as she'd been glad to report, but he needed to keep off of it as much as he could, lest it would heal wrong and hurt worse later on. So the arcanist had reluctantly pulled up a chair, silently watching the rest of their group from afar while studying something from his grimoire in the meantime. 

Everyone was as well as they could be for now. And for that, he was grateful. 

A small hand on his leg pulls him from his gaze, making him jump in the process. His nerves are still shot from the day's events evidently, and Krile, who'd been the one to surprise him, took notice.

"Apologies for scaring you," she said gently, "but I realized that in the wake of all the destruction and casualties, neither Alphinaud nor myself had a moment to check in on you and your own injuries. Do you mind if I do so now?" 

Acer'a still can't bring himself to answer her, so he nods instead, letting the lalafell know that yes, that'd be fine. Krile nods once back at him, then walks over to one of the medicine cabinets for a moment. She returns to his side shortly after, a bowl of water and a washcloth in hand. She hands them both off to him. 

"Wash your face off first. You've still got dried blood on your cheek. Not exactly a fitting look for you any day."

He does as he's told, watching the clean cloth slowly stain red as the blood comes off in flakes and smears. He brings a hand up to the mark once it's clean, feeling how long it is.  _ It's big enough to be visible, _ he thinks with a frown. A mark of true shame for his failures then. 

Krile watches him as he cleans up, handing him a bandage once he's finished while still examining the cut. 

"That's most likely going to scar, sorry to say," she says, rolling up her sleeves for a moment. "Now, hold still while I examine the rest of you." 

She brings her hands up then, aether flowing from her fingertips and wrapping around Acer'a as she does. It's warm, a soft tingling sensation. He'd never gotten used to it whenever Rurik's used his magic on him as well. 

"Well, the good news is you suffered no lasting internal damage, thank the gods for that," she says. "Some bruising yes, but nothing you haven't dealt with before I'm sure. You're just going to have to deal with being sore for a bit until they heal. But otherwise, you came out of that fight unscathed." 

The aether flow stops then, Krile putting her hands down. She looks up at him, meeting his gaze. 

"You did good today Acer'a. A lot of lives were saved due to your actions, and for that we can all be grateful." 

She grabs the bowl back from where it was sat at his side, moving to take it back to the cabinet to be washed out.

It's then that he finally says something in return. 

"...I could have done better." 

Krile stops, turning back to look at Acer'a. "Come again?" 

He looks up from his hands to see Krile giving him That look again, the same one from earlier in the night. It's not exactly a good one. 

"I said...I could have done better. I could have saved more people, done more, gotten here  _ faster _ . I...I don't feel like I did enough. I don't feel like  _ I'm  _ enough." 

He hadn't meant to say as much as he did, but once he said one thing well. The rest just came out with it.

To her credit, Krile doesn't scold him. Instead, she comes back to his side, setting the bowl down again, before taking one of Acer'a's hands in her own. 

"Look at me, Acer'a," she says to him, in one of those tones that left no room for argument. "We  _ all  _ could have done better today, all of us. Y'shtola could have shielded herself better, we all could have been faster, we could have planned more for an attack." 

"But as it stands, you did _ the best that you could _ , and that means that you did  _ enough _ . You  _ are _ enough, Acer'a. No one here thinks any worse of you for not emerging the victor today. We all know you gave it everything you had, that's just the type of person you are."

She gives his hand a reassuring squeeze. "Do not let your failures and mistakes deter you from moving forward. You said it best yourself. We do this for those we lost, and for those we can yet save. We may have lost today, but now we keep going, for them, so that their deaths are not in vain." 

She lets go of his hand then, picking up the dirty bowl again. "You should try to rest while you can," she says. "Tomorrow we'll need everyone in their best shape so we can take the next step forward, and that includes you."

And with that, Krile takes her leave. 

Acer'a just watches her walk away, taking a moment to digest what she'd told him. There was some truth to it, he supposed. He certainly had given the fight his all, as well as the clean up efforts afterwards. 

In the end well...maybe that was all he could do. For now, at least. 

Sleep would come first however. Krile was right, his bruising had left him sore, and by the Twelve if he had to walk a lot tomorrow he'd pay for it then if he didn't rest now. 

Taking careful effort not to lay down on any sore spots, Acer'a curled up on his cot, wrapping his tail around him as he did so. 

_ You may have bested me today Zenos, _ he thought as he drifted off.  _ But mark my words: Nobody fights this Warrior of Light twice and lives to tell the tale.  _

_ Next time, my best Will be enough to defeat you. _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to find me elsewhere, I'm most active nowadays on my FFXIV twitter, @Lost_In_Amaurot!


End file.
